Is a contract deal with Muni drivers coming soon?

Neither the Municipal Transportation Agency nor the union representing its transit operators is saying much of anything, but there are indications that a labor agreement could be coming soon.

The MTA has scheduled a special meeting for Monday morning during which it’s scheduled to meet in closed session on labor issues and take some actions that could clear the way for a new agreement either by July 1 or soon after.

“We are optimistic that we will have an agreement in place in July,” said Paul Rose, an MTA spokesman. “But we are honoring a commitment not to discuss details.”

Officials with Transport Workers Union Local 250A, which represents the folks who drive Muni buses and operate light rail vehicles, streetcars and cable cars, also offered a terse reply.

“I have no comment because it is a rumor,” said a union official who answered the phone Friday but did not identify himself.

Three days after overwhelmingly rejecting a mediated contract agreement on May 30, hundreds of Muni operators called in sick, forcing cancellation of about two-thirds of bus, streetcar and Metro service. Cable cars were shut down entirely. Muni passengers had to wait as long as an hour or find another way to get where they were going.

Fewer drivers called in over the next two days, but the unusually high number of absences still hampered transit service. Union officials insisted they had nothing to do with the sickout and that it was organized by members without the union’s knowledge.

Negotiations resumed after the sickout but remained tense. Union officials refused to enter an arbitration process adopted by voters in 2010. MTA officials threatened to withhold raises, stop collecting union dues and eliminate grievances if an agreement was not reached by June 30.